Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Azura and family celebrating their 8th annivessary with hubby Jo holding their neice Balqis. Daughters Lis and As helping to blow the candles.

There had been SMS, phonecalls and comments from friends asking about Azura's condition. This show of concern is really heart warming for us especially the prayers for her to get well and be sheltered from getting the dreadful disease caused by the big C.

The anxiety of waiting for the lab test result which normally takes 2 weeks to be confirmed is quite hard for us to take. Only consolation is that the mother Azura and the baby son Muhamad Aqil are both doing very well. Lucky thing Azura is able to consume any type of medication be it traditional or modern medicine to hasten the healing not only the internal tissues where the placenta was attached to her body but also the seven layers of skin part that needs to be cut to reach the baby. That was what I was told by Azura as told to her by one of the medical personnel at Hospital Univeriti Sains Malaysia Kubang Kerian. Except for the outer layer of the skin which was taped together to reduce the scarring effects, the internal layers were sutured up. Dont ask me the details of the number of layers needed to be sutured up as I have no knowledge what so ever. Anyway rest assured that, that part of her body is healing up very well and all we are doing now is wait for the lab result which my dear friend Tokasid would like very much to know too.

I am not going to pester the people at O & G clinic HUSM though Pak Adib has given me access to his brother in law Dr. Ahmad Shukri Othman who hailed from my birthplace of Kampong Kangkong, Pasir Mas should I need any help. The people at the clinic are professionals and I trust them to do their job so let them do it at their own pace.

Today I am going to share some of experiences with traditional beliefs of traditional healing that Azura and many patients in Kelantan are fond of doing. We believe that ikan haruan the snake head fish has very high healing properties especially for people who has undergone caesarian operations as a mean of delivering babies.

Haruan fries sold in plastic bag being sold at RM8.00 a packet.

The living fries in a cup ready for swallowing.(Sorry for the blurry image. Yet to buy a new camera)

One of the way to consume this fish is to swallow the live fries. So popular is this form of treatment that there are people going to the maternity wards (post natal) selling them in small plastic bags. The fries are put in clear plastic containers containing clean drinking water. The way to take them is to suck them using straws. Azura could not wait for husband Jo to bring the straw so she just drank them from the cup. A small pack containing several hundred fries cost RM8.00 and we bought 2 packs.Azura 'drinking' the cup of water with the live haruan fries.

Another way to consume the matured haruan fish is to have them baked in aluminium foil wrapped in mud. We didn't find that so we resorted to buying live haruans at the Pasir Mas market where live haruans are sold everyday. They even helped us to degut the fish, remove the scales and cut them up to size. All we need to do is to wash them before making it into delicious soup which Azura consumed with gusto. Lucky thing Azura didn't take to her parents who dont consume such fishes especially her mum who dont even take the delicious fresh water fishes. Even the heavenly kelah (tor tandroides) couldn't entice her into taking any fresh water fishes.

Muhamad Aqil being given a bath.

Beside ikan haruan, Azura consumes jelly gamat produced by Luxor. There are more expensive brands of course.

So if any of you ever give birth by normal or caesarian way, do try ikan haruan fries or the matured ones. It may not just fill up your stomach but helps heal your wound from delivery of a child as well.

To all friends and well wishers, we thank you for the prayers and support. I will make another posting when the result of the lab test is out whatever the outcome will be.

irfan,Don't worry. I really appreciate the comment and congratulations for being the first. Actually I had to post this entry because my daughter has been getting many calls from her worried office mates who had been reading my earlier blog about her. My reason for not posting anything more thus far is because we have no clue as to the status of the tumour. Hopefully everybody will be less worried now.Thank you again.

Salam Zawi,Happy to note that the baby and mum is recovering well, InshaAllah the test result will be good news as well.

Its the first time I heard about swollowing life baby haruan . ..... the soup is quite normal. I remember cooking ayam kampung dara with halia and minyak bijan for my wife during her confinement.It's help a lot for her recovery.

Shah,Alhamdulillah. Haruan fries are popular medicine for internal wound. I think Jelly gamat can do the same. Happy to hear that you got well after using it. For external blisters I really have faith in minyak gamat.

nightwing,Sometimes we wonder how our elders amange to find such cures for internal tissue damage. The doctors at most hospitals dont mind the patient's taking alternative cures at the same time while being warded at the hospital.Thank you for the prayers and thoughts.

Fauziah,Sorry for not responding to your comment earlier.I guess it is universally known that ikan haruan has its curative effect that only ignorant me doesnt know hahahahhaa.The flesh doesnt have much bones just like the catfish. Grilling it over a fire after marinating it in salt and tumeric would be nice while retaining its curative properties. I guess having it as soup all the time can be too much for anybody.What was wrong with your knee that it had to go under the knife? I guess you must be a sportswoman.

D Jaff,Sorry for not responding to your comment earlier. InsyaAllah the test result will turn out to be benign.Good nutritive food is essential to a quick recovery for people having undergone surgery. I am one who don't believe in pantang. All food are good provided its not taken in excess. I am sad when somebody is only allowed to eat the least nutritive food due to pantang.Try haruan fries the next time your wife gets into confinement.

Salam Pak ZawiTorn meniscus tissue in the right knee. I was playing in the inter-office netball tournament when my knee "koyak". Three months of crutches and physiotherapy, I was walking like normal but I stopped playing squash and tennis for a very long time. I was active in sports while in school where I played hockey. Now, exercise is limited to the gym.

Pak Zawi,It is indeed good to hear that the mum and the baby's doing well. The atuk and the nenek too, don't forget about your own health alright.My dad used jelly gamat too, after his operation on colorectal cancer. Indeed very good to help recovery of big wounds, internal and external. A wonder of nature, it is.Have a nice evening.

Ana,So far so good. We will be most happy if the tumour has vanish by the jelly gamat and haruan treatment. We will be happy too if it turns out to be benign tumour and an operation will save Azura from further problem. Whatever outcome is Allah's will and we will accept it as such.Keep on running Ana.

that was very informative. like Nightwing, first time for me too. i think psychologically to consume the whole glass using a straw would be even more, gross. my apology for the rather harsh word but that was exactly my first reaction looking at the pic. but hey, i'm all for it if thats the answer to restore one's health.

you stay healthy too, Pak Z. we'll pray for the best for Azura, InsyaAllah.

Ahmed kerpov,She wanted touse a straw initially but the hubby took too long to get it.I guess when you are facing such a predicament, anything people say are good will be taken at face value. Childbirth is no laughing matter. For us males we dont suffer like they do right?Thanks for the prayers kerp.Love your good nature all the time. When are u coming over for the etak?

kbguy,Yes live fries! I was amazed too. Its normal practise among Malays of Kelantan and the fries are sold around the hospitals.I think the fires will die the minute it gets into the big stomach as the acidic environment there would kill them.

Azura is sure a brave mama.. :) gosh.. swallowing life fish..indeed.. she is brave..

My first born was via c-s too, but I didn't have to eat haruan dishes for I only eat fish balls, keropok, laksa kelantan ( love the gravy ).. but i don't eat fish.

I think my mum-in-law and my mother were quite liberal where all these pantangs were concerned.

I washed my hair, took bath, ate regular food (i like shreaded halia fried in sesame oil with chicken..).. and i took bath for my baby myself.. (while I was waiting for my stitches to be removed, learnt all the procedures from the student nurses in USM when they took my baby for a bath)

Pak Zawi, do you think pantang is really effective ? sometimes i think it is more in the mind than in the body...

Mrs. Lim,I dont believe in pantangs. Pantangs mean not eating certain food which sometimes are necessary to heal the wounds.The live haruan fries could contain some chemicals necessary to promote growth as they must grow big very fast so as to escape from becoming food to other fishes or predators. Thus there may be some truth in its usefullness. Through trial and errors our elders must have found that eating live fish fries does help. Like they said should we reinvent the wheel? Good la if your mother dont impose the pantangs on you. The bath is important to keep you feel comfortable. But even the doctors asked my daughter not to take direct bath on the first day so as not to wet the wound. Sponging herself was considered sufficient.

Pi,I was amazed myself that she could swallow them like that. I guess when you just shut your mind and think of them as cendol in a drink, they will just go in nice and smooth.Jell gamat is better made nowadays and since it works without the smell, it is easier taken.The Biopsis result is not out yet so we are not out of the wood yet.Hopefully it will just be benign tumour.

Ok, Tuan Zawi, after reading some of the comments from ur readers.. I am just wondering.., may be you can share some tips on food, mandian, and how to take care of the mother and the baby, plus the traditional pantangs while a mother is on maternity. perhaps you can snap some photos too. For your info, our Kelantanese Chinese do borrow some malay traditions too while on maternity. In that case this can be of help to new mothers who are living away from their mother to learn to be independent while on maternity and the cost now adays is so expensive to hire a "mak bidang" to take care of the baby and the mother.For your info, while my wife is on maternity more than a decade ago, we call a makcik over from Pasir Mas to do the the duku massage using a kind of stone (hot). Than we bought the mandian herbs from the chinese medicine shop. They got it from the kampung folks who collected them from the forest, which is a mixture of herbs and rumput rampai, I guest. And we also use a kind of ginger as balutan around the stomach. With this experience which I learn from some old Malay kampung folks and some older Chinese, I passed it to our sister in-law.. Of course some of the pantangs which I think do make sence, we followed. But some is too rediculous, we just ignore. For example, baby napkins not allow to wash by a washing machine !

kbguy,I think that is a good idea to have it recorded here so that we all could discuss and if found suitable adopt the various customes and practices. In a way we can learn from each other. Not only we have mandian for the mother but also for the babies to prevent jaundice.Some practices may look silly but there is a good reason behind it all.OK I will blog about this. Too long to mention it here.

Doc TA,My daughter felt C-s is less stressful physically and she recovers so much faster.I guess someday C-s will be the way to have babies. No torn or cut up section at the point of exit by the baby in normal birth.Doc. I am glad to have shared something that we learn from others. Most doctors in Kota Bharu allows their patience to practise both the traditional medicine for the patient to heal faster. This maybe because the nurses here does that themselves for post natal.Please encourage your patient to do likewise. There is no harm really.

Rita,The good doctors in HUSM had a talk with my son in law telling him of all the possiblities and choices. He would even leave it to me to decide on the next course of action if Ca is confirmed.We have discussed about it and based on the info given, removal of the uterus is the best choice if it has to come to a choice. Before conceiving Muhamad Aqil, she was going for another try to have a son and her prayer was answered. What more is there to ask?Saving her life is paramount and the best alternative for now is a removal. The side effect of chemotherapy is too big to risk.Thanks Rita.

Edelweiss,Biopsis result will be out by the 15th of April. Thank you for the prayers for favourable result.When you are facing a wall, any small holes become a chance to go through. That motivated her to consume the haruan fries. Anyway she has great gut as she sems to be able to consume pati haruan without flinching too.Take care.